Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Ukraine

Tymoshenko's Return Not 'Fatal,' Says Yushchenko

Yuliya Tymoshenko pictured after meeting with President Viktor Yushchenko shortly after parliamentary elections in March (epa)

June 6, 2006 -- Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko says a proposal that Yuliya Tymoshenko should head a new government would not be "fatal" to coalition talks.

TEXT SIZE - +

June 06, 2006

Yushchenko's Our Ukraine, Tymoshenko's party, and another 2004 Orange Revolution ally, the Socialist Party, are seeking to form a coalition, but disagreements over the distribution of cabinet posts have proven to be a major obstacle.

Tymoshenko insists she should return to the post of prime minister -- from which Yushchenko fired her -- because her party emerged from March's parliamentary elections with more votes than its potential coalition partners.

The pro-Russian Party of the Regions won the elections but failed to secure a majority in parliament.

Yushchenko says he is hopeful a coalition can be formed this month. He is due to meet representatives of the three parties later today.

(Reuters, "Ukrayinska pravda," Interfax-Ukraine)

The Key Players

BEHIND THE IMAGES: Click on the links below to read RFE/RL's profiles of some of the key players in Ukraine's March 26 legislative elections:

Viktor Yanukovych

Yuriy Yekhanurov

Yuliya Tymoshenko

Oleksandr Moroz

Rynat Akhmetov

Volodymyr Lytvyn

Click on the image for background and archived articles about Ukraine's March 26 elections.

Click on the image to see RFE/RL's coverage of the Ukrainian elections in Ukrainian.

Click on the image to view a photo gallery of some of the key players in the Ukrainian elections.

A vendor in the central Bosnian town of Zenica sells heart-shaped cushions with proclamations of love for 1 euro each.

Love It (Or Hate It), It's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day, the Western holiday celebrating love, has become a global phenomenon over the past two decades. The fall of communism and the emergence of the Internet have helped February 14 become something of an unofficial international day of romance. However, not all the passions the holiday stirs are related to love. While some countries have openly embraced the holiday, others are attempting to ban it or replace it with local customs. More

'Police Detain Stuffed Animals' In Minsk Toy Protest

Belarusian youth activists say police have "detained" some stuffed animals used in an antigovernment protest in Minsk, in an echo of similar recent protests in Russia. More

There are frequent reports in the Bulgarian and Ukrainian media about Romanian “pirates” robbing passing transport ships on the Danube. (file photo)

Reports Of 'Pirates Of The Danube' Get The Old Heave-Ho

An attack last month on a Ukrainian barge on the Romanian sector of the Danube River has caused a diplomatic tussle between Bucharest and Kyiv, sparking media reports of possible acts of piracy on Europe's second-largest river. But do “Danube pirates” actually exist? More